This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago. The dates beside a word indicate the earliest year for which there is a surviving written record of that word (in English, unless otherwise indicated). This should be taken as approximate, especially before about 1700, since a
![Online Etymology Dictionary](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/8b2d01f552126eb87c49c3473bfe8a79674c0fbb/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etymonline.com%2Fgraphics%2Fheader.jpg)